Karen Epper Hoffman

Most recent articles by Karen Epper Hoffman

The weakest link in cybersecurity, it’s often said, is the occupant of the space between the chair and keyboard. Indeed, with phishing attacks not only still seeing widespread success but actually on the uptick, employees are arguably a bigger security weakness than any type of technological vulnerability. On the flip side, an enterprise’s people can…

1989. Acid wash jeans, Bon Jovi and the compassionate conservatism of the Reagan Era were actually, unironically popular. The Berlin Wall fell, free elections were held in the then Soviet Congress of Deputies, Vaclev Havel became president of Czechoslavakia, and pro-democracy rallies held sway in China. And, SC Media was born. It was a time…

It was one for the books – a mysterious cyberattack laying waste to systems in the city of Atlanta before moving on to a wide swath of targets, including health care companies, the Port of San Diego, the Colorado Department of Transportation. March 22, 2018 – Workers arriving in various departments in the city of…

2018 was the year that raised the alarm in earnest about potential vulnerabilities in the supply chain for enterprise computing systems. But with such diverse networks and widespread dependence on third parties, how can organizations expect to plug all potential leaks? Karen Epper Hoffman reports. It sounds like the stuff of a modern-day John LeCarre novel: The…

The system for electing government officials is perhaps more essential to the American way of life than anything else. Hence, the myriad reports of election system compromise has proved offensive on many levels to the American voters. Here is a brief list of potential threats that could affect the forthcoming elections: Nation-state actors. The major…

Governments are not just looking to technology, process changes and greater voter education to improve security. The law is playing a role as well. New legislation aimed at providing better security for elections is cropping up in states and counties, and on a federal level. Here is a selection of legislative bills that are related…

In light of rampant concerns about election tampering and voting machine manipulation, here are some steps IT security experts believe that state and county election officials can (and will) take to mitigate the risk of fraud come Election Day. Sharing information and seeking guidance. Since the 2016 Presidential election, county and state governments have redoubled…

Best known as the infrastructure underlying the wildly popular Bitcoin cryptocurrency, blockchain technology has really come into its own in the past year or so—being viewed, trialed and utilized as a means of better executing and sharing corporate documents, managing identity and authentication, even running an emerging social media network.

When nationally backed bad actors from other countries seek areas to infiltrate, they are looking for areas where
they not only can get in, but they can make a big impact. Other than critical infrastructure, nation-states may also try to wheedle their way into financial systems, mobile applications, election technology, and ultimately, IoT devices.

Managing the greater complexity and more constant demands of the so-called smart city, particularly making sure the collected data makes transit safely and is not altered or stolen, can be even more challenging than it may sound.